FACTS ABOUT DUST COLLECTION

FACTS ABOUT DUST COLLECTION

OVERVIEW

If your dust collector does a better job of distributing wood dust throughout your shop than actually collecting dust, a new dust bag could solve your problems. The woven fabric bags generally supplied by a machine’s manufacturer are, at best, a compromise. Openings between the threads that are large enough to pass air efficiently also pass dust with equal efficiency. A tighter weave may trap smaller dust particles, but will also restrict airflow, creating back-pressure and reducing suction substantially. The solution is to replace worn and ineffective OEM bags with larger, optimized felt dust bags.

INCREASING EFFICIENCY

The size of the breather bag is critical to your dust collector's performance. In an undersized bag (or typical OEM bag) the greater air pressure forces fine dust to penetrate the fabric’s fibers causing "blinding" and preventing the free passage of air. In an optimized filter, however, the dust-laden air escapes over a sufficiently large surface area, allowing the dust to enter, slow down, and fall, rather than being driven into the fabric. By using the proper air-to-cloth ratio for your collector, it is possible to achieve filtration of dust particles down to 1 micron.

ADVANTAGE OF FELT FABRIC

For wood dust we most often recommend polyester felt with a singed finish. Felts are preferred for filtration due to their high breathability, fine particle separation, and excellent dust cake build/release properties. Singed felt allows a very thin layer of fine dust particles to collect and build on the surface of the bag. This "dust cake" then does the actual filtering of subsequent dust blown into the bag and prevents the bag from blinding. When the dust cake becomes heavy, it sloughs off the surface of the bag and leaves behind a thin layer to continue this self-cleaning process, thus the filter maintains high airflow and allows your collector to work at its full capacity.

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